REUTERS/Sivaram V./File PhotoMUMBAI, June 8 (Reuters) - Monsoon rains reached India's southernmost Kerala coast on Thursday, offering relief to farmers after a delay of more than a week, marking their latest arrival in seven years.
The monsoon, the lifeblood of the country's $3 trillion economy, delivers nearly 70% of the rain India needs to water farms and recharge reservoirs and aquifers.
"Southwest Monsoon has set in over Kerala today, the 8th June, 2023, against the normal date of 1st June," the state-run India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in a statement.
The IMD confirms the monsoon has begun after taking into account rainfall measured at weather stations in the southern state of Kerala and westerly wind speeds.
Conditions are favourable for the monsoon to further advance into the central Arabian Sea and some parts of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka states, the IMD said.
Persons:
Rajendra Jadhav, Mayank Bhardwaj, Tom Hogue, Barbara Lewis
Organizations:
REUTERS, India Meteorological Department, IMD, Thomson
Locations:
Indian, Kochi, MUMBAI, Kerala, India, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka